Domaine Luneau-Papin: Sur Lie Cuvées
While these days it is the cru communal cuvées which bask in the Muscadet limelight, many of the region’s leading domaines made their names on the back of high-quality cuvées which saw a more traditional élevage, with bottling coming during the year after the harvest. This was certainly the case with Pierre Luneau-Papin, who first released Le L d’Or in 1976, a vintage which was still singing when I tasted it – for the very first time – in February 2012, when it was more than 35-years old (and I wasn’t much older!).
Reflecting this sur lie heritage, today the portfolio still provides us with a range of high-quality cuvées which see a traditionally curtailed élevage in keeping with the sur lie regulations. Le L d’Or arguably still leads the pack, although these days it does have some competition.
On this page of my profile of Domaine Luneau-Papin I explore in detail the full range of sur lie wines made under the Muscadet Sèvre et Maine appellation, before I finish up with a quick look at the domaine’s sole cuvée of Folle Blanche.
The L d’Or cuvée is sourced from vines which were planted in Vallet in 1984, at a density of 6,500 pieds per hectare, on soils of gneiss and granite. This makes this the most easterly of all Luneau-Papin’s parcels.
As with the cru communal cuvées the fruit is harvested by hand, pressed using pneumatic equipment, and the juice then allowed to settle before temperature-controlled fermentation which is effect by indigenous yeasts. This is carried out in a combination of subterranean cement cuve, vats lined with glass tiles and Italian terracotta amphorae. It is then bottled the following year, between April and the end of December, the period during which bottling permits the use of the sur lie designation.
The end result is one of the grandest and most sought after examples of the Muscadet Sèvre et Maine appellation in existence, a wine which drinks well young but which undeniably has the potential to age.
The most likely contender to Le L d’Or’s crown is Terre de Pierre or, to give this cuvée its full original title, Terre de Pierre de la Butte de la Roche.
